Rock of Gibraltar Wins 2,000 Guineas; O'Brien Trainees 1-2

Rock of Gibraltar made up for the disappointment his owner, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, felt earlier this week when his soccer team was defeated in the Champions League semifinals with a neck-length victory in Saturday's Sagitta Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) at Newmarket.

"This is a great day and makes up for not being in the final at Cardiff," Ferguson told Reuters.

Sent off at 9-1, Rock of Gibraltar edged 3-2 favorite Hawk Wing in the one-mile race -- the first classic of the British racing season -- giving trainer Aidan O'Brien a sweep of the top two finishing positions. 25-1 longshot Redback was third in the field of 22, 1 1/4 lengths behind Hawk Wing.

Rock of Gibraltar, a bay son of Danehill owned by Ferguson and Mrs. John Magnier, improved his career mark to six wins from eight starts with his third career group I victory. The Guineas marks his first start of this year and his first start under jockey Johnny Murtagh. As a juvenile, he won the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Eng-I) and Grand Criterium Lucien Barriere (Fr-I) and a group II and group III stakes race. On good to firm turf, the winner completed the distance in 1:36.50.